Posts tagged "Protecting Natural Places"

Northwoods Timber Sale in the News

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Ashland, Wisconsin’s Daily Press highlighted ELPC’s legal work to prevent excessive logging in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. At issue in the article is the Cayuga timber sale, which covers 5,200 acres of forest. In 2005, a Federal Judge ruled in ELPC’s favor that the US Forest Service failed to consider the cumulative impact of the timber sale with other proposed.

Protecting the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

Thursday, June 5, 2008

ELPC has taken the lead in fighting to protect one of Wisconsin’s most precious natural resources, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The CNNF has been identified as one of the “10 most endangered national forests” in the nation.

The Environmental Law & Policy Center is working through federal courts to protect this treasured resource. Learn about CNNF litigation and advocacy here. You can hear ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner talk about our efforts to slow the rate of logging in this interview with Milwaukee Public Radio.

The Governor’s Task Force on the Environment has been another of our priorities in the state.

The 2007 Farm Bill also will benefit Wisconsin’s burgeoning renewable energy sector. The state recently increased it’s commitment to clean energy with a a new Renewable Portfolio Standard requiring that 10% of electricity come from renewable energy by 2015. ELPC and Wisconsin allies are now developing plans to use the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP, formerly Section 9006) to realize this goal.

Wisconsin has already benefitted greatly from REAP, receiving the third highest amount of grants for any state. Wisconsin farms and rural businesses have received $12 million in grants for 65 projects from 2003-2007. With Wisconsin’s great diary industry, manure digesters have figured prominently, with 34 digester projects funded.

Have questions about our work in Wisconsin? Contact our Madison office at 608-661-9099 or by clicking here.

ELPC Files Brief with U.S. Supreme Court in Exxon Valdez Case

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Environmental Law & Policy Center filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Trustees for Alaska and 15 other Alaska and national environmental groups in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving $2.5 billion of punitive damages assessed against Exxon for its role in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster. The groups’ brief urges the Court to uphold the federal Clean Water Act’s goals of restoring and maintaining the nation’s waterways and prevent Exxon from using the Act as a “shield” to avoid full liability for its role in the spill.

“ELPC is pleased to be representing our national and Alaska environmental and conservation group colleagues on this important case to preserve the robust web of federal and state statutory and common law rights and remedies to advance cleaner water and deter reckless conduct leading to environmental disasters such as the tragic Exxon Valdez oil spill,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of ELPC.

In the case, Exxon is arguing that the federal Clean Water Act limits the type and amount of damages that can be awarded by juries for oil spills under traditional principles of maritime law. ELPC’s brief argues that the Clean Water Act was intended to enhance protections to achieve cleaner water, not shield corporations from their responsibility to pay damages for their roles in environmental disasters. Overall, ELPC and its partners seek to protect the public’s interests in the integrity and effectiveness of the nation’s integrated system of environmental statutes and common law remedies to preserve our natural resources and achieve cleaner waters.

The environmental groups on the brief include: Trustees for Alaska, Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Cook InletKeeper, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Eyak Preservation Council, Humane Society of the United States, Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Prince William Soundkeeper, WaterKeeper Alliance and The Wilderness Society.

The case is Exxon v. Baker (No. 07-219)